laurel_19's reviews
578 reviews

Graceling by Kristin Cashore

adventurous emotional fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Piranesi by Susanna Clarke

adventurous challenging mysterious slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo

adventurous medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller

adventurous emotional sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

All Grown Up by Jami Attenberg

challenging dark funny sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content and Sexual violence

Moderate: Sexual assault

When Women Were Birds: Fifty-four Variations on Voice by Terry Tempest Williams

challenging emotional hopeful informative reflective slow-paced

3.75

The Magic Fish by Trung Le Nguyen

emotional hopeful lighthearted reflective relaxing medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

4.0

Of Bees and Mist by Erick Setiawan
Did not finish book. Stopped at 10%.

Just not the right time for me to read it. 

The Office of Historical Corrections by Danielle Evans

challenging dark emotional reflective sad

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

I liked 4/6 short stories, plus the novella was excellent. Short stories I enjoyed were: "Richard of York Gave Battle in Vain" (a photojournalist attending a wedding gets pulled into shenanigans when the groom leaves the morning of the wedding); "Boys Go to Jupiter" ("a white college student tries to reinvent herself after a photo featuring her in a confederate flag bikini goes viral"); "Alcatraz" (a daughter takes her mother and some estranged family members on a tour of the prison "that tore her family apart decades earlier"); and "Anything Could Disappear" (a young woman starting a new life becomes saddled with an unexpected situation while at a rest stop). 

How to Write an Autobiographical Novel: Essays by Alexander Chee

challenging dark emotional inspiring reflective sad slow-paced

3.5